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Back to square one...
Oct. 29th, 2005 07:22 pmThe Plan to take mom to Colorado is dead. I'm going home tomorrow. I hope there are no hard feelings, as I had minimal input into the decision. Whatever. I'm going to try not to lose much sleep over it.
Soon after arriving this trip, I left a message with an old buddy from the Marines with whom I hung out wa-a-a-y back when and who now lives in Glen Head. (I had the idea, at the time, of perhaps dropping by his place and using his DSL connection, but I got his voice mail and left a message, but I digress...) At any rate, he called yesterday at just the right time, inviting me over to jaw over cup of coffee, because I needed very badly to get out of the house.
My buddy, who had gone by the monicker "Champ," hasn't changed much - mentally - over the years, although the years have taken their toll physically (as they have on me). Interestingly enough, the house in which he lives is exactly the kind of place in which I would imagine him living, in terms of the interior arrangement of rooms: a labyrinth of what appear to be afterthoughts in various stages of renovation. At any rate, we sat in the kitchen and drank our coffee as we caught up on the past, um, couple of decades, and then he drove me around Sea Cliff to point out the bookstore and the two Orthodox churches. Too soon, we parted ways again.
He confirmed my suspicion that the reason for the utter lack of Internet services available to the public around here is that everyone apparently has DSL running to their house, hence there is no need for public connectivity venues. (Verizon advertises a DSL service for $14.95 per month, which is about what you'd pay for "accelerated" NetZero dialup. It's no contest!)
If true, this is something of a shame, as it basically forces people to withdraw into their own spaces to go online. I experienced something of the sort in Baikonur, I think: after work, the U.S. crowd tended to quickly hit the dining hall and then disappear into their rooms and spend time alone. (Then again, if that's the nature of the market, then it's not really "forcing" anything, but "catering to" it instead.)
I spent most of my waking, non-visiting-mom time today on a translation due Monday. I'll probably put a high spit shine on it tomorrow, before packing my stuff for the trip home.
I am definitely a short-timer, as I've had my last dinner this trip. The old man put together some salmon and potatoes, with asparagus on the side. I need to make sure all batteries are chargd for the road, among other details.
Cheers...
Soon after arriving this trip, I left a message with an old buddy from the Marines with whom I hung out wa-a-a-y back when and who now lives in Glen Head. (I had the idea, at the time, of perhaps dropping by his place and using his DSL connection, but I got his voice mail and left a message, but I digress...) At any rate, he called yesterday at just the right time, inviting me over to jaw over cup of coffee, because I needed very badly to get out of the house.
My buddy, who had gone by the monicker "Champ," hasn't changed much - mentally - over the years, although the years have taken their toll physically (as they have on me). Interestingly enough, the house in which he lives is exactly the kind of place in which I would imagine him living, in terms of the interior arrangement of rooms: a labyrinth of what appear to be afterthoughts in various stages of renovation. At any rate, we sat in the kitchen and drank our coffee as we caught up on the past, um, couple of decades, and then he drove me around Sea Cliff to point out the bookstore and the two Orthodox churches. Too soon, we parted ways again.
He confirmed my suspicion that the reason for the utter lack of Internet services available to the public around here is that everyone apparently has DSL running to their house, hence there is no need for public connectivity venues. (Verizon advertises a DSL service for $14.95 per month, which is about what you'd pay for "accelerated" NetZero dialup. It's no contest!)
If true, this is something of a shame, as it basically forces people to withdraw into their own spaces to go online. I experienced something of the sort in Baikonur, I think: after work, the U.S. crowd tended to quickly hit the dining hall and then disappear into their rooms and spend time alone. (Then again, if that's the nature of the market, then it's not really "forcing" anything, but "catering to" it instead.)
I spent most of my waking, non-visiting-mom time today on a translation due Monday. I'll probably put a high spit shine on it tomorrow, before packing my stuff for the trip home.
I am definitely a short-timer, as I've had my last dinner this trip. The old man put together some salmon and potatoes, with asparagus on the side. I need to make sure all batteries are chargd for the road, among other details.
Cheers...
